We were on QVC’s Gourmet Holiday with our Take & Bake bread assortment last week and we ended up with some leftover bread in my kitchen. We wrapped some in foil (plastic also works) and put it on the counter to eat over the next couple of days. We also pre-sliced, bagged, and put some in the freezer for later. I took about four of the Take & Bake French Demi Baguettes and cut them up into cubes and pre-made a Take & Bake Breakfast Bread Pudding for brunch the next day. (Inspired by Barefoot Contessa’s French Toast Bread Pudding.)

Ingredients:

• 1 Essential Baking Take & Bake loaf or multiple demi baguettes, cubed ¾ inch thick
• 8 extra-large eggs
• 5 cups Oat Milk
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon or orange zest
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 tap nutmeg, grated
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• Powdered sugar and pure maple syrup, for serving

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place the bread in a 9 × 13 × 2-inch baking dish
3. Mix together the eggs, oat milk, brown sugar, lemon or orange zest, vanilla, and salt. Pour the mixture over the bread and press the bread down. Allow bread to soak for 10 minutes.
4. Place the baking dish on a baking sheet pan (or in a larger roasting pan with enough very hot tap water added to the roasting pan to come an inch up the side of the baking dish.)
5. Cover tightly with aluminum foil, tenting it so the foil doesn’t touch the pudding. Make two slashes in the foil to allow steam to escape. Bake for 45 minutes, remove the aluminum foil and bake for another 40 minutes until it puffs up and is set. Remove from the oven and cool slightly.
6. Dust with powdered sugar and serve hot with maple syrup.